Like A Brother (Comme un Frere)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Main Program: C+

 

 

A young gay man named Sebastien goes to Paris to find a life and at least some happiness, finding more than expected the Bernard Alapetite/Cyril Legann production Like A Brother (Comme un Frere, 2005).  He is hitting the best clubs and meeting who he considers the most desirable men, but when his old friend Romain contacts him to get together, this best friend who was never his lover challenges his change of identity under the name Zack.

 

He is forced to remember the past and a straight friend who never exploited him or abandoned him.  This also recalls earlier days when he was at his happiest.  Will this help him rethink his future for the better, or will other issues ensue and ruin anything he hoped would be better for him by moving forward?

 

This is a decent production with some good ideas.  Especially because this was shot on video, you’d think this could have been longer than 55 minutes.  Certainly the material is strong enough and too much remains unresolved in a way that is not thought provoking as much as it feels like the script by the co-directors was not finished or even rushed.  Remarkably, this is still better than many of the feature-length gay releases we have seen recently.  For those who like such material, this is better than many releases of late.

 

The 1.78 X 1 was shot on very basic digital video at best and low definition for certain, noticed in darker scenes (bedroom in particular) where the Video Black is very flat and detail is always an issue.  Color can be consistent though.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo at best.  Extras include stills, trailer and making of featurette.  Hope the next Alapetite/Legann project is more fully realized.  At least they are sort of on the right track.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo